The Conduit
The Conduit is a first-person shooter game being developed by High Voltage Software, and to be published by Sega. It is exclusive to the Wii console.IGN: Exclusive First Look: The Conduit The game's story is about an alien invasion in Washington, D.C. by an estraterrestrial race known as The Drudge. An agent named Michael Ford has been assigned by a secret U.S. governement agency called The Trust to discover the reason of the invasion. High Voltage Software has stated that they want to push the Wii's graphical capabilities, to make The Conduit's visuals comparable to those on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.The Conduit developer High Voltage Software talks shop The Conduit uses an engine called Quantum3, which creates graphic effects like dynamic bump-mapping, reflection and refraction, light/shadow maps, projected texture lights, specular and Fresnel effects, light beams/shafts, gloss and detail mapping, seamless resource streaming, projected shadows, heat distortion and motion blur, interactive water with dual-wave channels and complex surface effects, animated textures, and lots more.IGN: Exclusive First Look: The Conduit The Quantum3 engine also includes advanced artificial intelligence, which allows the beings in The Conduit to possess "human-like behavior". Campaign The Conduit's campaign mode takes place in modern day Washington D.C. The city has had many unusual weather patterns, a terrorist attack on the Washington Monument, the asassination of Presidental Candidate Senator Harriet Reimer, and the appearance of a flu-like illness known as The Bug. Because of this illness, many members of the government staff stay at home, in hopes of not being infected. A secret organization, The Trust, has reached the conclusion that the country is under attack by an extraterrestial race, codenamed The Drudge, which are the main enemies in the game.The Conduit Game Manual Some of the United States military personnel has been controlled by the Drudge, and a part of the Trust has voluntarily sided with the Drudge. The main character is Michael Ford, who is an agent of The Trust. He is the playable character in the campaign mode. .]] The Drudge are divided into four main types: Mites, Drones, Skimmers, and Scarabs. Mites are the smallest. Some of them are able to fly and others explode when close to the player. Mites are thought to grow up into the adult forms. Drones are adult-form Drudge that are common soldiers, and Skimmers are an alternate adult-form that can fly. Scarabs are the most dangerous members of the Drudge, as they are equipped with heavily-armored exoskeletons and powerful weaponry. They are the equivalent of a modern tank. The Drudge also incorporate various devices like, the Drudge portal, or Conduit, which allow Drudge enemies to spawn from them until they are destroyed by the player. Other Drudge devices, like a"Regenerator Unit" and "Pulse Box," will also appear in the game.The Conduit Game Manual It has been confirmed that the campaign mode consists of nine missions.PAX: 2008: The Conduit Hands-On Multiplayer High Voltage Software confirmed that there will be online multiplayer for The Conduit. They've stated that it will support up to 16 players, but later reduced it to 12.IGN: Multiplayer Features in The Conduit There will be many multiplayer modes in different categories. "Free for All" ends when a player reaches a certain kill count. In "Marathon," there is a time limit in which players have to get as many kills as possible. In "Three Strikes" players only have three lives. "Last Man Standing" is exactly what it sounds like, and "ASE Football" is where the player who has the All Seeing Eye for the longest time wins. In "Bounty Hunter," players aim for specific players, but get penalized if they take out the wrong targets.IGN: Multiplayer Features in The ConduitThere are also Team Play categories. In "Team Reaper," you have the option to play Quick Match and Marathon with teams, but you can also play "Shared Stock," where teammates use lives from the same pool. "Team Objective," is mode similar to capture the flag, each team has its own All Seeing Eye to grab. There's also a mode to grab a single ASE somewhere in the level; the team that captures the ASE the most in the set time limit wins.IGN: Multiplayer Features in The Conduit The multiplayer mode will support voice chat through the Wii Speak peripheral. The players will only hear the six players closest to them during matches.IGN: Multiplayer Features in The Conduit High Voltage Software has also stated that they had plans to include LAN (Local Area Network) multiplayer but according to Nintendo Power, after much persuasion from Nintendo, the plans had to be dropped. Seven multiplayer maps have been confirmed, which are:IGN: The Conduit *Bunker *Pentagon *Complex *Sanctum *Infirmary *Streets *Warehouse Playable character skins include: *Trust Agent *Scientist *Drudge *Guard *Secret Service Agent (Limited Edition only) Weapons Human Weapons * USP45 (Pistol) * SCAR (Assault Rifle) * MP5KA4 (Sub-machine gun) * SPAS (Shotgun) * SMAW (Rocket launcher) Drudge weapons *Warp Pistol * Shrieker * Razor Cannon * Strike rifle ** Striker Trust weapons *TPC Launcher * Deatomizer * Carbonizer *HVS45 Grenades * Fragmentation grenade * Radiation grenade * Stun grenade Editions According to GameStop, The Conduit will ship in two editions: the Standard Edition, which will have the game disc, and manual; and the Limited Edition, which is exclusive to GameStop, will include what is included in the Standard Edition, plus a 24-Page art book featuring concept art, a custom in-game “All Seeing Eye”, and “Secret Agent” Multiplayer skin.The Conduit GameStop Exclusive Limited Edition Awards * Best Wii Game of E3 (IGN.com) * Best Wii Shooter of E3 (IGN.com) * Best Graphics Technology on Wii (IGN.com) * Honorable Mention for Real-Time Control on Wii (IGN.com) * Best Wii Game of E3 (Gametrailers.com) * Top 20 Games of E3 (Edge-online.com) High Voltage Software: Technology References Category:Main Article Hierarchy